Harry Potter True Friends 2
by Pixel and Stephanie Forever
Summary: After coming back from the dead, Harry now has the chance to do life all over again. he will be Minister again, but life will be a different route for our favourite Gryffindor. But will things be the same for things that happened before for Harry?
1. A Second Chance At Life

**A Second Chance At Life**

Harry returned with the cure to St Mungos, and he made it in the nick of time. During the voyage back on _HMS Wulfler_, the crew had been making repairs to the ship. Harry had found this amusing after he had questioned the Engineer about it.

"You do know they will send her to the scrap yard?" he had asked.

"Yes, sir" replied the older man, "But I want it going down on record that they decommissioned a service ready boat" and Harry had shared the sentiment with him. He had given orders for all personal to help in the repairs. Harry's thoughts returned to the present and he watched as Madam Pomfrey administered the potion to each of his wives. They came round like they had done so before, but Harry was still overcome with joy. He hugged each of his wives, but Hermione frowned as if detecting something wrong. She kept her peace, but resolved to speak to Harry as soon as she could. Harry gave a version of events that explained why Ginny had been with him.

"Part of Voldemort's soul was trapped inside Ginny and it made her come to him" Harry said, "But we managed to defeat him, kill him and get back here before the curse took a fatal hold" and everyone accepted the story. When they had returned to Grimmauld Place, Harry found an annoyed trio of Natalie, Rudi and Ben waiting for him. Luna and Neville sat silently on an armchair.

"What did you mean by sending us away?" asked Natalie crossly.

"There was a reason" Harry said, "But everyone had better sit down before I start" and they did so.

"There is something different about you, Harry" said Hermione before her husband could start the tale.

"You know?" Harry asked surprised – the others looked puzzled.

"I felt as if you had already been through this" Hermione said, "Like when you went back in time to save Susan" and Harry ran his hands through his hair before answering.

"Yes I have come back from the future again" he began, "But it is slightly longer then a few hours. More then a few days to be honest with you" and Susan looked into Harry's eyes.

"What do you mean?" she asked quietly.

"I have come from beyond death" Harry said, and then smiled as he looked at the confused looks he was getting.

"I don't follow you" Hannah said, "Beyond death? What is that supposed to mean?" she asked, and Harry debated to tell them everything.

"I have come back 400 odd years" he said at last. "You was dead, Hannah. So was Susan, Hermione, Luna, Neville, Rudi, Ben, Natalie everyone I knew was dead. I was the last survivor from the Battle at Hogwarts, and then after I died and went to heaven, I was given the chance to come back, live my life again and help to fix terrible errors. I've retained most of my memory from what I have been through, and I will use it to make the world a better place. I also want to push through changes in the Ministry so that Muggle-Borns have the same rights as Purebloods. Plus I can also spend the next two or three hundred years making love to you all over again" Harry finished with a wink.

"That's our Harry!" came a collective call, and dozens of cushions converged on his position.

#

The funny thing was that Harry could remember all of lessons, and so he could complete the year as top student. When it came to it though, Harry failed one question as he knew Hermione had been working on getting the top exam marks for all the years he had known her. The only drawbacks to Harry's time travel plan was that he had to go through the heartache of leaving Hogwarts once again.

"Mr Potter?" called McGonagall, and he turned back to face the Headmistress and the assembled students as he stepped away from getting his graduation certificate. "There is something else" she said.

"Yes, Professor McGonagall?" Harry enquired.

"There is a petition" said the witch, and Harry saw that Natalie and several other Gryffindors came up to him with a large piece of rolled up parchment.

"On behalf of Gryffindor House, we would like to ask you to remain at Hogwarts" the five students said in unison. Harry took hold of the parchment and saw that under Natalie's name, the first student to sign was Ginerva Molly Weasley. He looked back up at the small party, and then the whole hall at large. All of the students looked at him with eager faces, and then many ghosts appeared – all dressed in Gryffindor robes. Dean, Seamus, Oliver, Parvati, Lavender, Colin and Dennis Creevy and many other Gryffindors that Harry had known and fought with. They all looked at him with nuteral expressions, but simply hovered above the living students – though Harry was fairly sure he was the only one who could see them as no on else reacted to their appearance.

"Thank you" Harry's voice croaked with emotion, "Thank you" he said again – much clearer this time. "My time at Hogwarts has come to an end, but I wish it could still go on. It cant, so this is it" and the hall started calling up to Harry.

"Boooooooo" they said. Harry knew that this was one thing that he could.

"Oh sod it" he said, and the hall went silent, "If you want me to come back, then I'll come back for you lot" and everyone cheered at the news. "After all" Harry shouted over the din, "What would Hogwarts be without Harry Potter for a few more years?" and he looked over to McGonagall who was beaming with pride.

"I'd like you to take over the post of DADA teacher" she said.

"I want to stay alive for more then one year!" Harry protested half heartedly, and they all laughed.

"_For he's a jolly good fellow, For he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow, and so say all of us_" the students from all houses started singing, and it took a full fifteen minutes to calm them down. Harry noted that the staff didn't seem all that bothered with the task. Harry's Tachikoma was at the back of the hall and was clapping along with everyone else, and Harry Potter went down off the podium and rejoined his family.

"I think I am going to enjoy this time line" he said, and McGonagall gave a speech thanking everyone for their hard work over the academic year, and also the hard work of the staff. As the Hogwarts Express pulled out of the station for the last time with Harry on board as a student, he looked at the castle and was sure he had made the right choice. The first thing he was going to do when he got back home to Grimmauld Place was to cook a huge steak with chips and gravy so thick, you could float a cruise liner on it. The next thing to do was to buy all the books on being a Professor at Hogwarts from Florish and Blotts. Then he was going to enjoy his first true summer without Voldemort around.

This time, Harry would do things differently.

**A/N:**

**Not my normal standard I admit, but there you go.**

**The first chapter in my long awaited sequel to "Harry Potter True Friends", and I hope that I can do the same good job on this as I did on that!**

**This time around, Harry is going to do things that he either didn't or couldn't do before, and be damned with the consequences. As such, Osama Bin Lardun will not attack the twin towers, and we'll see more of the years that I didn't put in. of course things will change due to Harry creating a new timeline, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it!**

**Special Mention to Voldemort is Dead who is my first review of 2010. Your reward will be a sneak peak at chapter 2**

**For now**

**Reviews in the normal manner**

**Pixel**

**Happy New Year**


	2. This Never Happened The First Time Aroun

**This Never Happened The First Time Around**

Harry woke up later that night to the sound of Susan calling his name. He sat up, rubbed his eyes and then put on his glasses. He focused on one of his wives.

"I assume you have a good reason for waking me" Harry said tiredly.

"A bloody big reason" said Susan, "The Floo network has been locked down and none of our portkeys will work. We put on the wireless, but that is mentioning nothing" and Harry jumped off his bed and headed downstairs. He was surprised to see Ben sitting in the living room.

"How'd you get here?" Harry asked.

"I cast a charm on a trunk, got in it, and told my family owl to bring me here" he shrugged. "It seemed the only way" Ben added. "Do you think there are new Death Eaters?" and Harry shook his head.

"I doubt it" he replied. At that moment, there was a loud banging noise on the front door, remembering the last time someone banged on the front door, Harry drew his wand and carefully opened the door. Standing in the street beyond was Aurors Jackson and Riottz. Behind them stood several other nervous people who Harry didn't know.

"Thank Merlin you are here" said Jackson, "Can we come in?" and Harry waved them all inside – putting powerful charms on the door when he shut it.

"Do you know what's going on?" Harry asked Jackson.

"Well we tried to get into the Ministry using the Floo for our shifts, but we couldn't. we tried portkeys but that didn't help either" the Auror said.

"We ended up going to the phone box, but when we dialled the number, we got a message saying the Ministry was in lockdown" added Riottz. "When we tried to apperate inside, it simply wouldn't work. Me and Joe went round met up and had a talk. We rounded up as many of the old guard as we could, and then came here" and Harry smiled slightly at how Riottz had described the Aurors they had brought along. _The Old Guard_. Those that had fought at the final battle at Hogwarts over a year previous. They had also proven to be the Aurors who had refused the orders to arrest Harry on many occasions by Tonks.

"We place ourselves under your command" Jackson said, "And we await your command" and Harry thought for a while.

"I might be able to get past the security wards" he said at last, "But let us wait for a while. This could all be an accident and the wards triggered by mistake" and the Aurors admitted that that might be the case. They waited for the entire night, before the morning papers arrived. With a snap of his fingers, Harry made enough copies for everyone.

**MINISTER WEASLEY RESIGNS**

**Emergency Meeting of Wizendgamot**

_In a shock move last night, Minister Arthur Weasley resigned from office effective immdiatly. It is not known at this time why he has done so. From our sources, we have learned that most of the Wizendgamot was called to session and the Ministry placed into lockdown mode. Nobody was allowed in or out until 3:45 AM, but we only learned the results of the meeting shortly before going to press. It has been decided by all, to ask Harry Potter – the boy-who-lived-and-have-too-many-hyphons-in-his-name – to form a government. We have also learned that the Ministry is almost totally bankrupt after the previous Minister – Nymphadora Tonks – put most of it into an account which brought herself freedom from prison._

The article went on for a bit, and covered several pages. Harry's decision was to go to the Ministry and see what the situation was like on the ground for himself. He, his three wives, the Aurors and Natalie all vanished with a snap of Harry's fingers. Rudi and Ben said that they would look after the children while the Potters were away.

"This is odd" said Harry. He looked around and saw nobody in the Atrium – not even the security guard.

"I have a bad feeling abut this" said one Auror.

"Not the only one" Harry muttered. "Lets move" he said louder, and they moved off towards the council chambers. The only people they saw were other Aurors who had been inside during the lockdown. It seemed that the lockdown was ordered by the senior Auror on the spot to prevent a hostile takeover of the magical community. Once they had moved up to the chambers, they found Neville waiting for them.

"Morning, Harry" he said. "Did you sleep well?" and he wilted slightly under Harry's look.

"What is going on here?" Harry asked of him, "And why wasn't I called to the meeting?".

""Mr Weasley's last act was to order the minimum people needed for a session and then he resigned" and then Neville drew himself up to a more formal stance. "I have been requested by the magical council to ask if you would form a government" and Harry considered the possibilities. If he said yes, then he could bring in the reforms hundreds of years early.

"I accept" Harry said. "We will need a formal swearing in process later today, but for now let us try to make sense of this mess" and the Aurors who had 'stormed' the building with Harry dispersed to wherever they wanted to go to.

Jackson created a guard detail on the desk, and left orders for it to remain a three Auror job until further notice. Hannah, Hermione and Susan returned to Grimmauld Place to look after the children. It was afternoon before they could locate someone with authority to swear Harry in. The first person was rejected as Harry couldn't swear himself in, and so it was Jackson who did the event. It took an afternoon to get enough people back for the ceremony to take place, and Harry had it held in the Atrium. Sat at the front row of seats were Harry's three wives, James, Rudi, Ben and Natalie. Harry stood in the formal robes of the Potter family on a platform in front of the assembled people. At the stroke ten, Jackson stepped forward a very old book. Harry could see that it bore in faded letters – _Magical Law_. He wondered if it was some kind of magical bible.

"Do you accept the office of Minister for Magic?" Jackson asked him.

"I do" Harry replied. He knew for a fact that this was different to how he had been made minister before.

"Repeat after me" Jackson said. "I, Harry James Potter"

"I, Harry James Potter"

"Do now avow and affirm"

"Do now avow and affirm"

"That I accept the office of Minister of Magic"

"That I accept the office of Minister of Magic"

"And be honest and faithful with every fibre of my magic"

"And be honest and faithful with every fibre of my magic" Harry finished, and lifted his hand from where it had rested. Everyone present burst into polite applause, and Harry thanked them all before giving his first speech as Minister – again. "I am not one for big speeches, so I'll cut this short" he began. "For reasons as yet unknown, my predecessor quit – so you are all stuck with me. I promise to be a fair and just ruler, though I will make more then a few mistakes. My one major aim will be to unite Purebloods, Half Bloods and Muggle Borns. No longer will there be any discrimination between the three of us – we are all equal. I have no cabinet as yet, so the people in their currant jobs will remain. After I have sorted out the mess left behind after the war, the Ministry shall sort out the repressive laws. My first act as Minister is to remove certain parts of the Underage and Secrecy laws for Muggle Borns. I shall have details published by tonight in the _Evening Prophet_. Now that is all I have to say for now. Thank you for coming at such short notice" and Harry left the podium with an escort of two Aurors following behind him. Harry went from the Atrium to the office that was now his for a forth time.

"So how does it feel to be in the hot seat again?" Hermione asked.

"They never got this chair sorted" Harry muttered in reply. "Forget all of what I said. My first act as Minister is to order myself a new chair" and everyone laughed. There was no doubt that it was their Harry who had returned.

"So what are doing now then?" asked Susan.

"Make peace with all those wronged by Fudge, Scrimjour and Tonks" Harry said. "Let the word go out that an official apology will be issued by myself… as soon as I can get round to it. Equal rights for werewolves, Vampires, Goblins… anyone who was wronged by three out of the last four administrations" all three of his wives nodded in agreement. Hermione knew there was something else on his mind.

"What is the other thing on your mind?" she asked him. Harry was silent for a long while before he spoke.

"Aurors? Go outside please" and they did as they were told to. "I want go get married again" Harry said. There was silence in the room for some time.

"Guess you are going after the Harem" Hannah said at last.

"Not exactly" Harry said. "I want to get married to someone who I have treated as a person, even though they are not even alive by most standards. Best thing is of course" Harry continued, "Is that you have already met her" and his wives looked puzzled.

"Met her?" Hannah said.

"Can we have at least have a description of her?" asked Hermione.

"Big, blue and weighs several tons" Harry said with a grin.

"Mrs Weasley?" suggested a thoroughly confused Susan.

"Nope… try again" Harry said, and he leaned back in his chair to see if they could guess who Harry wanted to marry.

**A/N:**

**Well there you go! Chapter 2.**

**Nothing really to say, except I can not wait for you to start guessing as to who Harry wants to marry.**

**Another Chapter will be a long time away as I want to finish off everything else I have got first – then the chapters will get longer and better.**

**Pixel**


	3. Measure Of A Tachikoma

**Measure Of A Man**

There was a small problem with getting married to Tachikoma though. Some person called Bruce Maddox had heard about Harry's plan, and he had set out to stop him and Tachikoma from marrying. His argument was that Tachikoma was not alive, and could therefore not agree to get married to Harry in the first place. He was a pureblood, but Maddox knew of the potential of Tachikoma. He had made it clear he wanted her, and so had called for a trial to get a ruling on the issue. Once he had Tachikoma, he would study it, and then take it apart and make more parts. He would get rich from the many Tachikoma copies he would sell to the magical world for dangerous tasks like dark object recovery.

#

"You can't just stop the trial – not even as Minister" Jackson said. "I'd call it off as a whole waste of time, but we've got to let him have his day" he added.

"I don't care what people say about her, Tachikoma is as a real a person to me as you are, Harry" Riottz said.

"Thank you" Tachikoma said. "But will this person win?" she asked.

"He is a good lawyer" said Jackson. He, Riottz, Harry, Tachikoma, Hannah, Susan, Hermione, Ben and Rudi had formed a council of war. They had plans drawn up for every possible outcome – and Harry had even included some T-shirts for most of them to wear. Fred and George were still making one that would fit over Tachi's hull.

"So?" Tachikoma replied, "I bet Harry can prove I am more then just a machine" and Harry smiled at Tachikoma's trust in him.

"While that means a great deal to me, it will not be enough to convince a judge" he smiled. "We will have to wing this hearing… and win it we shall" and they all started thinking hard.

#

Harry was beginning to wonder if he was going to spend half his life in Courtroom 10. He and Tachikoma sat at a table and listened to Maddox talk about Tachikoma as if she was an item. It was more accurate to say that Harry was behind the table as Tachikoma couldn't fit really. She was sitting low on the ground, and was following everything that was going around her. Before setting off, Harry, his wives, Ben and Rudi had all dressed in formal robes. Madam Malkin did not stock size 3XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXL clothing, so Tachikoma had asked Malkin and her entire staff to make something of her own design – a red, white and blue striped dress. Harry hadn't the heart – or the guts - to tell her she looked like a circus tent.

"Tachikoma is a machine" Maddox was saying, "And now I will turn it off" and he leaned inside the pod and flicked a switch off. "Pinocchio is dead – its strings have been cut" and he walked away. Harry got up, flicked Tachikoma back to life, and then started his defence. It was better then listening to Maddox all the time and only objecting to finer points here and there. Before he spoke, Harry looked round the court to survey the crowd. With a deep breath, Harry began the defence.

"Mr Maddox has dramatically demonstrated to this court that Tachikoma is a machine. Do we deny that? No. But how is this relevant? We too are machines, just machines of a different type. Mr Maddox has continually reminded us that Tachikoma was built by a human. We do not deny that fact. But again how is it relevant? Does construction imply ownership? Children are created from the building blocks of their parents' DNA. Are they property? We have a chance in this hearing to severely limit the boundaries of freedom. And I think we better be pretty damn careful before we take so arrogant a step. I call Tachikoma to the stand" Harry said, and Tachikoma stood slightly higher then normal – not being able to fit in the witness box. Harry picked up a small box and held it for the courtroom to see. "What are these, please?" he asked.

"My medals" Tachikoma replied.

"Why pack them? What logical purpose do they serve?" Harry pressed.

"I... I do not know, Harry. None I suppose. I just wanted them. Is that vanity?" Tachikoma sounded slightly panicky. Harry didn't reply, but put down the medal box and held aloft a very old looking book.

"And this?" he asked.

"It was a gift from Hermione"

"You value it?"

"Yes"

"Why?" Harry enquired. He knew the answer of course, but he wanted everyone to hear it in court. It would help to serve his cause much more this way after all.

"It is a reminder of friendship"

"Joseph Jackson made you an honorary Auror. Why did he do this?"

"Because of friendship and service. We served together during the fight to defeat Voldemort. And then again at various other times" Tachikoma's eyes spun round slightly.

"Indeed. I have no further questions of this witness" Harry said, and he looked around to gauge the mood.

"Mr Maddox, do you wish to cross examine?" asked the judge.

"I have no questions, your honour."

"I call to the stand Mr Maddox as a hostile witness." Harry said, and Maddox looked oddly at going over to the witness box. "Mr Maddox, it is your contention that Tachikoma is not a sentient being and therefore not entitled to those rights reserved for other creations?" he asked.

"Tachikoma is not sentient, no" Maddox said at once.

"Why, sir?"

"Because Tachikoma is a piece of outstanding engineering and programming…" Maddox was cut off by Harry.

"Yes, yes… you have said this all before. See if you can answer this question: What is required for sentience?"

"Intelligence, self awareness, consciousness" Maddox looked oddly at Harry. Harry though was completely poker faced.

"Do you know what sentience is?" Harry stopped midway through a crossing of the floor and spun on his heel.

"Of course" Maddox replied.

"Oh, well that is excellent. Then you can enlighten the rest of us. Prove to this court that I'm sentient" Harry smirked.

"This is absurd!"

"Really? Why? Perhaps because you can't do it?" Harry said, and he looked Maddox directly in the eyes.

"No, it's just pointless. We all know you're sentient" the man replied, and he shifted slightly on the chair.

"So I'm sentient, but Tachikoma isn't?" Harry said, and he started to pace around the area at the front.

"That's right."

"Why?"

"Well... well, you're self aware."

Ah, the second ingredient. But let's deal with the first requirement. Is Tachikoma

intelligent?

"Yes."

"Why?"

"It has the ability to learn and understand, and to cope with new situations."

"Like this hearing. What about self awareness. What does that mean? Why am I self aware?" Harry shot at him. The rest of the court looked on and turned heads this way and that. It was like watching the final at Wimbledon.

"Because you are conscious of your existence and actions. You're aware of yourself and your own ego" and Harry looked over to Tachikoma.

"Tachikoma, what are you doing now?"

"I am taking part in a legal hearing to determine my rights and status. Am I property or person?" it replied. Tachikoma's voice sounded as if she was worried. She knew very well what would happen if they lost this meeting. Maddox had gone on record as saying he wanted Tachikoma so that he could take it apart and see if he could make more of it.

"And what's at stake?" Harry asked gently.

"My right to choose. Perhaps my very life" Tachikoma replied quietly.

"My rights. My status. My right to choose. My life. He seems pretty damn self aware to me. Well, Maddox, I'm waiting." Harry folded his arms and looked sternly at the man.

"Your honour, this is exceedingly difficult..." he pleaded to the judge. In return, he got a 'Don't expect help from me' look.

"Do you like Tachikoma?" Harry enquired

"I don't know it well enough to like or dislike it" Maddox replied, and he shifted in his seat again.

"But you admire her?"

"Oh yes, it's an outstanding –"

"Piece of engineering and programming. Yes, you have said that before"

"Yes"

"And should you win you're proposing to dismantle her?" Harry shook his head.

"So I can rebuild her and construct more!"

"How many more?"

"Hundreds, thousands. There's no limit"

"And do what with them?"

"Use them."

"Really? To do what?" Harry's emptied of all emotion.

As replacements for humans in dangerous situations. So much is closed to us because of our fragility. They could be used by the Aurors to take on the most darkest of creatures. But they..."

"Are expendable."

"It sounds harsh but to some extent, yes"

"Are you expendable, Maddox?" Harry shouted. "People have died because of what I considered. But never have I thought of them as expendable… But I digress. A single Tachikoma is a curiosity, a wonder, but a thousand Tachikomas… doesn't that become a new race? It is said that the final judge of a people is by history itself. And aren't we going to be judged by history as a species on how we treat these creations? If they're expendable, disposable, aren't we? Tell me - What is Tachikoma?" Harry asked.

"What? I don't understand" Maddox was confused as to what had happened. He had assumed that Tachikoma would be set for dismantling by the court.

"What... is... she?" Harry spoke as if speaking to a child.

"A machine!" Maddox said loudly.

"Is she? Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

"But she's met two of your three criteria for sentience, and we haven't addressed the third. So we might find her meeting your third criterion, and then what is she?"

"I don't know. I don't know!" Maddox yelled.

"He doesn't know? He doesn't know?" Harry tutted. "Do any of you?" he asked the court as a whole. "That's the decision we are facing. Your honour, a courtroom is a crucible. In it we burn away the egos, the selfish desires, the half-truths, until we're left with the pure product - a truth - for all time. The decision you reach here today stretches far beyond this android and this courtroom. It will reveal the kind of a people we are. And what" he pointed to Tachikoma "They are going to be. Do you condemn her to a life of not being allowed to make her own choices? To explore what it means to be alive? Well, there she sits, your honour, waiting on our decision. You once told me that you wanted the chance to make a good name for yourself in law. You want to make a ruling of great importance. You have a chance to make such a ruling. Well, let's make a good one" and Harry sat down next to Tachikoma. The judge was silent and unmoving for sometime, and it was a full five minutes before he spoke.

"This court is in recess for the next four hours" and he banged the gavel before leaving the room. Mostly everyone else did, but Harry, Hannah, Susan and Hermione climbed into the back of Tachikoma's expanded inside.

"I think you did a good job" said Hermione. "I doubt that I could have done much better" and Harry shook his head with a grin.

"I think I missed my calling" he laughed.

"I just want to say thank you for trying to defend me" Tachikoma said over the intercom.

"It was the least I could do" Harry said. Tachikoma giggled slightly, and then it started to play one of its favourite films on one of the screens – _Hook_. They watched it until the end, and then watched some sport afterwards. One of the great things about Tachikoma was that it could access any channel in the world. This was useful for when the space shuttle went up – he could listen to the radio traffic. They got so interested in a football match that they all jumped – Tachikoma included – when someone knocked on the hatch.

#

"This court" began the judge "Has dealt with many different topics. We have heard about rights and choices. It is clear that Tachikoma has many friends – some in high places. It has served in battle alongside the Aurors, and was given a medal for what it had done. A 1st class Order of Merlin no less!" and he paused a moment. "Mr Maddox has also presented a case for duplicating Tachikoma, and creating many copies for use by the Ministry. I agree that even a dozen Tachikomas would be of great help in a large scale war, and it would be handy to send into dangerous situations. However, we've all been dancing around the centre issue of this case. Does Tachikoma have a soul? To be honest with everyone present – I don't know that she has. I don't even know if _I_ have one. Is Tachikoma a machine? The answer to that is yes. Is Tachikoma property of the Ministry? No she isn't" and Harry jumped up and hugged Tachikoma which squeezed him back. The rest of the court applauded the decision, and Maddox looked shocked to his very core. "It is the ruling of this court that Tachikoma is a sentient person and that she be given all the rights associated with that status. This court is dismissed" and then the judge got up and left the courtroom.

"Congratulations" Maddox said. He attempted to shake one of Tachikoma's arms, but Harry stopped him dead with a single look.

"Don't ever try that again" he said, "Or I will not be responsible for the result" and Maddox scoffed.

"You might be the Minister, but if you ever threaten me again, I'll have you out of office" the man replied, and Harry raised an eyebrow.

"I would not have touch you, but Tachikoma would have taken steps to prevent herself from being tampered with" Harry told him.

"Really?" Maddox said, "Tachikoma is nothing but a giant metal lump. It could hurt me more then a stuffed toy could" and Harry broke into a smile.

"Tachikoma, complete weapons status please" he ordered, and Tachikoma did so at once.

"3000 rounds of .303, 2500 rounds of .202, twelve Mills Grenades and four 50LB mortars" Tachikoma said. There was silence before there was a series of whirling and clicking noises from deep inside Tachikoma.

"You are joking with me" Maddox said, "You have no weapons that could harm me" and Hermione smiled.

"Tachi? Blow up the judge's bench" and Tachikoma turned round and fired a mortar round into the desk. It blew up with a huge roar and Harry made a shield so nobody was harmed from the debris that flew in every possible direction.

"Believe me now?" Tachikoma said sternly, and it turned towards Maddox whom nearly shit himself with fear. "I must warn you, that my guns are now armed" and to prove the point, she fired a bullet into the ground between his legs.

"" was all they heard as Maddox ran from the courtroom.

"Silly idiot" said Hannah.

"Forget that" said Susan.

"We have a wedding to take place" said both the former Hufflepuffs said.

"Woooo" whirled Tachikoma, and he dress went all over the place and forced most fo them to duck for cover.

**A/N:**

**Another exciting chapter for you to review. I hope some of you will give me nice long reviews this time around. As much as I am glad about the reviews I receive, all those little ones saying "good chapter" and such like do tend to get tedious.**

**Anyway…**

**I hope you all liked Tachikoma's ammo load. What neither Harry or Tachikoma said was that Tachikoma was only half loaded. Double the numbers given and that's one hell of a load out!**

**Not much to say really, but for the next chapter of this fic, I will give you the title and a big plot point. The title is "Nuclear Disaster" and the plot is that I am killing off some big characters.**

**Well I hope that keeps you guessing**

**Reviews and PM's in the normal manner**

**Regards:**

**Pixel**


	4. A Disaster Of Atomic Proportions

**A Disaster Of Atomic Proportions**

The group had come to the end of three weeks driving around the Nevada Test Range in Tachikoma, and the first thing that Hermione did was to put the kettle on. Harry and Susan dealt with all the post that had been getting more and more while they had been away. Hannah put the children to bed while Rudi made a floo call to Ben so he knew she was back.

"Looks like a whole new series of bills ready to be passed" said Susan.

"Why am I always getting asked to give final say over these?" Harry asked her.

"Perhaps" she said dryly, "It is because you are the Minister?" and Harry chuckled and smiled.

"It might have something to do with that" he replied. They went over the rest of the letters before taking tea in the library with the others. They talked sometime while they watched Tachikoma reading the many books they had. After the court's decision, Tachikoma had been treated like a human would be. While this may have been due to the ruling, it might also have been from the fact were afraid of Harry's wrath. The blue tank had begun collecting a wide range of musical art to put into its databanks, from Don Giovanni to Timmy Mallet. Harry considored Tachikoma's range to be… unique to say the least. After they had finished, they went to do their separate things and Harry headed to the Ministry in Tachikoma – simply because he didn't want to apperate or portkey. Harry never used the floo where he could help it.

#

'_That temp seems a little high'_

'_Been doing it off and on all day. I've kept an eye on it all day… 'pect it's a faulty gauge. I'll put in for a new one'_

#

"I'm back for less then three hours and I get called in to work" Harry grumbled as he signed paperwork.

"Well you said you didn't want to be disturbed" said Joseph Jackson with a grin on his face.

"If you don't shut up, then these cigars are going out the window" Harry said as he withdrew the small wooden box of Cuban cigars he had brought back from the trip abroad.

"How did you get these back through American customs?" Jackson asked as his eyes lit up. He opened the box and smelled the deeply rich scent of tobacco.

"One of the adventages of being me" Harry said. "I simply said that I needed a box of cubans to complete a complex spell that would halt a dark lord" and he burst into laughter as did Jackson.

"Well that's all" replied the other man, and he got up and left the room with the box tucked under his arm. Harry watched him go only to be replaced by Rudi and Ben.

"Hello, Harry" Ben said. "Thanks for all those pictures you had brought for me" Harry had made it a point to bring him back some pictures of the muggle airplanes that had been flying overhead while they had been on holiday.

#

_WHOOP WHOOP WHOOP WHOOP_

'_Oh shit! The bloody valve has failed… we're going to blow up in less then ten minutes'_

'_Is there anything you can do?'_

'_I've tried to scram the reactor, but its not working. I think we've been sabotaged_ _'_

'_I'll get us as far away from here as possible'_

#

"Thank Merlin that's over with" Harry said as he finished the last piece of paperwork.

"I think even Tachi was getting tired of waiting" Rudi said. Tachikoma was sat outside the office waiting to leave with the others inside it. The machine was twiddling its arms around as if it was annoyed by the amount of time it took to sign everything.

"Could you drop me off at my house please?" asked Ben.

"That's up to Tachi" Harry replied. Tachikoma agreed to do so, and they set off out the Ministry and towards Ben's house. People looked at Tachikoma as it drove along the streets, but the machine ignored them all as it took a left turn and passed Whitehall. The three humans sat in the cockpit and watched the journey on multiple screens. As they waited at a set of traffic lights, a light went off in the cockpit as did an alarm.

"That's new" said Ben. Harry frowned as he started tapping at the console.

"Radiation explosion in five minutes" Tachikoma's voice filtered through.

"What radiation?" asked Rudi.

"My radio canners have picked up a message from a submarine in the Thames. The ship's nuclear reactor has been sabotaged and will explode in less then five minutes" Tachikoma replied.

"Do we have enough time to get home and grab the others?" asked Harry.

"Not by normal means" replied his wife. Harry reached back and activated the portkey that he had mounted inside Tachikoma. The moment they appeared in the living room of Grimmauld Place, Harry jumped out and shouted for Hermione. When she came running through, Harry told her of what was going to happen. As both had been muggle raised, they knew only too well what the devastation would be.

"You better use the floo and tell your parents to get the hell out of here" Harry said to Ben.

"they went out to the Lake District" he replied.

"T-1 minute and counting" Tachikoma said. It too was in a panic, while it could not understand the sadness of death, she knew that lots of people dying at the same time was a very bad thing indeed.

#

'_Thirty seconds to detonation'_

'_Nothing you can do at the last minute?'_

'_Nothing, sir'_ the officer knew there was no point staying in safety limits, and order the crew to ignore the limiter and push forward.

'_Ten seconds_'

'_Gentlemen? It was an honour serving with you'_

Then the reactor exploded

#

Harry, Ben and Rudi were looking away from the direction of the explosion, so they didn't get blinded by the flash.

"GET IN! GET IN! GET IN!" Harry yelled at the children. Rudi and Ben scrambled into the cockpit of Tachikoma.

"Shockwave will hit in five… four… three…" Tachikoma began a short countdown as Harry heard footsteps coming down the stairs as his other wives came rushing down with their children. "Two…" Tachikoma was still counting when Hannah came running through the door. Harry though knew it was too late to save her, Susan, Hermione or any of the children. He dived into the cockpit while Ben and Rudi slammed the door shut.

"JUMP!" yelled Harry as he hit the portkey again to take them anywhere away from London.

Most of the people did not know what had hit them, and they became vaporised in milliseconds. The more unlucky ones actually felt themselves die, while the rest became heavily irradiated and had their hair fall out, blood be sick and have their skin peel and flake off.

#

"Can you hear me, Mr Potter?" asked a woman's voice. Harry felt a little woozy, but he opened his eyes to see a blurry Madam Pomfrey looking down at him.

"What happened?" asked Harry as he sat up and had his glasses placed on him. He was sat in bed in the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts with a number of people looking anxiously at him.

"A submarine which was tied up in London had the engine go and blow up" said a soot stained man.

"Damage?" Harry asked.

"A fair few million for sure" said the man. "We haven't been able to contact the Ministry for a while, but we think that they are still working in some fashion because the Floo Network is working alright. It's controlled from the Ministry itself you see" and Harry paused for a while.

"I better see my family" said Harry, and he noticed several people look at the floor or otherwise not at him. "What?" he asked with concern.

"They… didn't make it" Rudi said quietly. Harry blinked several times in confusion.

"What do you mean…?"

"They got caught in the blast" answered Ben, and Rudi started sobbing so he an arm around her in comfort. The shock hit Harry quickly as he realised his entire family had most likely been killed in the nuclear explosion.

"I would recommend that you stay in bed, Mr Potter" said Pomfrey, but Harry saw and heard the moans of other people for the first time. He saw people propped up on the floor, and in various levels of health.

"You need the space" Harry said, and he got out of the bed and stood shakily up. Pomfrey didn't object and spared a few moments to watch him leave the Hospital Wing before dealing with other people in her care.

# # # #

Harry tapped his clothes with his wand, and they changed from pyjamas to black slacks and polo necked jumper. As he got going, his walking became more and more steady, and he, Ben and Rudi walked to the Headteacher's office where they found McGonagall, Jackson and several other people talking.

"Harry" McGonagall dropped the formality in light of what happened.

"Macky" Harry said, then his tone dropped into something more business like. "What the hell happened?" and he was filled in with everything that had happened.

"We've been able to make contact with the Ministry, but because of the radiation, they are unable to get out either by the floo network, apparition or by portkey" Jackson said. "Nobody can get contact with anyone else in London except the Goblins at Gringotts. For the time being, we are working on your plan of Hogwarts as a Command and Control facility" and Harry nodded in approval.

The Command Centre he had had built for use against the Death Eater attack on Hogwarts had proven itself well in battle. Now it would prove itself again in peacetime. Although it was most unlikely to have been used again, Harry had ordered a three Auror detachment to rotate in and out of the place in case it was needed. It had been shift change when the accident had happened, and so there had been double the number there. The six had been able to get everything working quickly, and the supplies of medicinal potions sent down to the Hospital Wing. The former training rooms had been converted to extra wards, and Jackson had had everything sorted out by the end of the first hour. Harry had never been one for long talks, so he decided to inspect the Command Centre followed by Rudi and Ben. The boy was taking the loss of his parents very well indeed so far, but Harry knew he would feel the pain soon enough.

**A/N:**

**Oh Oh**

**Well seeing as my last chapter upload was such great thing, here is another. You'll be glad to know that something is going down here at Pixel and Stephanie Forever Towers, and you will see about Christmas time.**

**Pixel**


	5. Japan Has Nothing On This…

**Japan Has Nothing On This…**

Harry had reports sent to him as soon as they came in, and they made for grim reading indeed. Over twelve million people were confirmed dead, and the figure went up every second afterwards. One of Harry's first acts was to formally transfer the magical capital to the Command Centre. Because most of the Aurors lived in London, they had either all died or were dying from the effects of radiation poisoning. Ben and Rudi followed him everywhere he went as his assistants, and they made themselves as useful as they possibly could. Both the Ravenclaws collected the information that came in, looked it over and altered it so it was something that Harry could understand well. Contact with the Ministry had been lost a few days before, but it was not known if that was from the effects of the radiation interference, or if the survivors there had finally died. Each day they had called Hogwarts, and each day Harry had been forced to listen to them getting weaker and weaker until they hadn't called one day. It was a hard choice to make in not rescuing them, but it had been made after Harry and his new cabinet discovered that the air was taken from the outside. This meant that radiation had been spreading for days inside the Ministry, though some people did mention that there was a chance that a few may have remained alive if they had been working in the lowest levels of the building. Wizarding communities from other countries had offered Harry as much help as he needed, and in a touching moment of kindness, even North Korea came out of its hiding place to offer its support.

"Wake up" Rudi shook Harry by the shoulders gently. Harry awoke to see her looking down on him with understanding.

"Did I miss the meeting?" he asked her.

"You have enough time to get yourself tidied up a bit, get a coffee and then get to the meeting" his adopted daughter replied. Harry thanked her and got himself ready for the daily meeting which would be the last. He felt it was a waste of time and intended to hold them every other day instead. He walked into the briefing room in the Command Centre, and waited for his cabinet to sit down. As most of the previous government had been killed, it was pointless to fill all the posts again. What Harry did, with the help of Ben and Rudi, was to fill the vital positions first. The senior staff therefore comprised of DMLE, Health, Home Affairs, Foreign Affairs and Education. The latter four departments outnumbered the DMLE by twenty to one. Most of the Aurors had been killed in the explosion, shock wave or by radiation sickness. When they - and others - had died, their bodies were taken down to the Chamber of Secrets and burned, their ashes put into containers and buried in limestone.

After the meeting was over, Harry made his way back to his old rooms which he now shared with Ben and Rudi. While it went without saying that he had his own room, Ben and Rudi had said that they would share a room – their excuse being that there wasn't enough room for separate rooms. The only dorm that wasn't used was the room sealed by Harry himself – the 6th year Gryffindor dorms – or at least the 6th year from his own days as a student. As he walked to the rooms, Ben and Rudi came up to him with mixed expressions on their faces.

"Something I should know about?" Harry asked them. "I take it its important?" he added, and both nodded.

"Yes, Harry, it is important. Very. A few days ago we received a transmission on the WWN- a simple four word message: "Is anybody out there?" I answered it. I could not help myself." Ben said.

"There is a loneliness inherent in that whisper in the darkness"

"Yes, I am glad that you understand" Rudi replied. Harry was puzzled as to what was going on.

"But it didn't stop there, did it?" he asked.

"No. We've have been drawn into her life"

"_Her life_? To what degree is this involvement?" Harry asked.

"We have been talking lots of times regularly" said Rudi.

"Dear heaven, you've got a pen pal" Harry rolled his eyes if they thought this would annoy him. "Does this person know you're calling from Hogwarts?" Harry asked them.

"No…" replied Ben. "You see… she's a muggle" and Harry closed his eyes and froze for a moment.

"Oops. Just where does she think you're calling from?" he asked the pair.

"We've kept that somewhat vague. But Alex – that is the girl's name - has been quite specific, telling me detailed stories of her family and friends. It was fascinating, but among these confidences were interspersed alarming things" said Ben

"Go on" Harry knew things couldn't get any worse, but he was partly interested in anything that they had to say from this long distance friend of theirs.

"According to Alex, the radiation from the bomb made everyone sick and die- except for her. She doesn't know why she is still alive though, but she is sick as well and we don't think that she'll see the week out" added Rudi.

"Then your pen pal is in trouble" Harry said, and he leant against a wall as he listened.

"Yes, sir" Ben replied. Harry noted the reuse of the Sir.

"What are you proposing?" he asked them.

"If we can determine the level of the radiation, we might be able to get it low enough for us to save her" Ben said.

"And violate the Statute of Secrecy…"

"We was hoping that you might have another option"

"We don't even know if we can rescue her" and Harry thought for a while. "Call a conference in our rooms. All senior staff" he told them

"Right" said Ben.

"And the pair of you listen to me carefully: all communication with this person must stop" Harry told them.

"We understand" replied Ben and Rudi at the same time. They went off and left Harry to think about some very important things.

# # # # #

Harry, Ben, Rudi and the senior staff sat in the living room of the shared rooms. The cabinet listened to Harry as he explained the matter at hand.

"You see the dilemma?" he asked them when he was done.

"There are no options. The Secrecy Statute is not a matter of degrees. It is an absolute" said the DMLE chief.

"I've always had a problem with that kind of rigidity. It seems very callous and even a little cowardly" said Pomfrey.

"Madam Pomfrey, I'm sure the Senior Auror did not intend it in that way. In this situation we must use caution. Our actions could have a profound effect upon the future. If we could see all possible outcomes -"

"We would be gods, but we're not. If there is some cosmic plan, isn't it the height of hubris to presume that we can, or should, interfere?" said the Auror.

"So what are you saying? That the Muggle is fated to die?" Pomfrey said.

"It's something that needs to be considered" replied the Auror.

"Well, consider it considered, and rejected" Pomfrey shot back.

"If there is a cosmic plan, are we not part of it? Our presence at this place at this moment in time might be part of that fate. So it might be part of the plan that we interfere" McGonagall said. She wasn't sure about her words, and this was the sort of thing she left to Trelawney.

"I think that eliminates the idea of "fate"" the Auror glared at Pomfrey and McGonagall.

"Alex is not a subject for philosophical debate, she is a person" Ben said calmly, but Harry noticed Rudi's hands intertwined with his.

"He's got a point. The Statute was designed to protect, not destroy" Harry said. "I know more then anyone in this room that the Secrecy Statute serves many purposes. Not the least of which is to protect us. It keeps us from allowing our emotions to overrule our judgment" he added.

"Our emotions are involved. Our friend is going to die. That means something" said Rudi.

"To you" snapped the Auror.

"Does that invalidate the emotion?" asked Ben icily.

"What if the muggle girl asked for our help?" asked Pomfrey.

"Yes, Alex's messages could be viewed as a call for help" Ben said to her.

"That's sophistry and you know it" Harry told them.

"Hell, I'll buy that excuse. We're all jigging madly on the head of a pin anyway" McGonagall said quietly laced with anger at the Auror.

"She cannot ask for help from people she does not know" the Auror said to the room.

"She knows us" said Ben and Rudi at the same time.

"What a perfectly vicious little circle" commented Pomfrey. There was a deathly and hallowed silence in the living room.

"Ben, Rudi. I want you to sever the link with the muggle" Harry said carefully.

"Harry, to maintain contact we had to manually tune the radio through all of the frequencies. If we break that link then we might never get it back again…" Rudi paused in her protest as she realized something. "We are going to allow her to die, are we not?" and nobody answered. Ben sadly got up, crossed over to the radio and turned the volume up and listened for anything. There was only interference laced static, and Ben reached out a hand to turn the radio off when the signal flickered.

"Ben, Rudi! Where are you? Why won't you answer? Are you angry me? Please, please, I'm so afraid! Don't leave me!" the little girl's voice struck into everyone. Pomfrey looked away and McGonagall closed her eyes with a pained expression. Even the Auror looked a little sad, but Harry was not sure. There was nothing else from the radio, and Ben was about to turn it off when he was stopped.

"Wait" called out Harry. "Oh, you two. That whisper in the dark has become a plea. We cannot turn our backs" and Harry closed his eyes in thought for a moment. "Someone let Tachikoma know that I need her outside the entrance hall in ten minutes. I will need a small medical kit to take with us… that's all people" and with that the meeting was over with. Ben and Rudi both apologized to Harry for the position they had put him in, but Harry waved them off by saying that innocent once. The Auror who was filling in the DMLE position for the time being came up to him.

"You know this is a mistake" he said.

"No it isn't" Harry replied.

"I know you lost your wives in the attack, but this is no excuse to be making another mistake" and then the Auror found himself flying to the far wall with Harry advancing on him with wand drawn.

"HOW DARE YOU!" he shouted. His anger was so much that the castle shook down to its very foundations. Ben, Rudi, McGonagall and another Auror came rushing in to see Harry punching the man in the stomach and head again and again.

"STOP" Rudi cried out. Harry froze in mid punch, looked at the man in disgust and then turned his back on him.

"You're not worth it" he said as he shook his head. "I lost it then for a moment. I was alright until he said what he said… then I lost it" Harry glanced over at the other Auror and saw it was the same one whom had spoken to him in the Hospital Wing some days before. "Who are you?" he asked.

"I am Worf, son of Morg" he said.

"I'm sure I know you from some place other then here" Harry said faintly. "How many years have you been an Auror, Mr Worf?"

"About twenty years – give or take" Worf replied.

"Well you just got made the new DMLE chief" Harry said, and looked back at the Auror he had been hitting. "I wish we could sack him, but we need everyone to do their jobs…" and then Harry let his Inner-Slytherin out to play. "Assign him as bodyguard to the teams doing the Autopsies" and the Aurors face paled as he was led away.

"You seemed very restrained there, Mr Potter" McGonagall said.

"I am too busy to get involved in being angry" Harry said tiredly. "What has happened has happened, and we can not change it from happening. That was one of Hermione's…" Harry faltered over his dead wife's name, and he slumped into a chair and sobbed. McGonagall left the room to take care of other matters, and this left Ben and Rudi to comfort Harry.

"There was nothing that you could have done" said Rudi quietly and calmly.

"I could have summoned them to me" Harry said. "Or just sent you two off to safety…"

"But you did what you could to save them, and it was pure bad luck that they didn't make it" Ben told him. He looked at the time, and then back at Harry. "We better get going if we want to save Alex before she dies from the radia…" then he shut up as he saw Harry's pained look which vanished quickly.

"You are of course right" he said. He got up, and together the three of them walked down the stairs until they reached the great hall where Tachikoma was waiting for them. She was passing the time by reading a book on cooking.

"Hi, Harry, Ben and Rudi" Tachikoma waved at them. "I'm so sorry that the others died. I don't understand the concept of death really, but I think that's because I am an AI and can't actually die. I do understand that it will upset everyone" Harry just smiled.

"That's fine" he said, and Tachikoma's rear hatch popped open and Ben and Rudi climbed in – followed by Harry.

"You know where you are going?" Ben asked the machine.

"Yeah" Tachikoma replied.

"We are all set to portkey out" Rudi said. She was looking at Tachikoma's displays and also at the medical kit which had been placed inside the cockpit.

"We better not take chances with our own safety" Harry said. "Battle Stations" and the lights dimmed as Tachikoma went into battle mode. Her scanners increased in range and power, her outside hull gleamed with power too and when he was satisfied Harry activated the portkey and they vanished.

# # # # #

They appeared in the middle of a large room, and Harry had Tachikoma scan for any life signs. She found two weakfish ones, and so they walked in Harry's remaining wife towards them with a little hope in their hearts. They saw the dead in various states of decomposment, and Rudi felt sick from seeing the hair less, flakey skinned and blood splattered persons lying dead in the corridors. Then as they got near to the broadcasting booth of the WWN, they saw a sick wizard looking up at them with pleading written all over his face.

"Please… help me" he groaned. Harry only needed one look at the monitors to make up his mind.

"Tachi, single round in the mag… fire" and Tachikoma mercifully put an end to further pain for the man. Both Rudi and Ben had squealed in shock and surprise, but Harry had told them that there was nothing any of them could have done, and that it was kinder to kill him in order to save him from the pain he was going through.

When they got to the broadcasting room, Tachikoma blew the door off with a single high explosive round. Harry cast shielding charms on himself and the younger pair before they climbed out the cockpit and began to search the room and the booth beyond. They saw a girl no older then 9 years old slumped over a desk. Rudi cast a diagnostic charm and found she was bordering on no hope. She and Ben loaded the girl inside the waiting Tachikoma while Harry busied himself with placing small satchels around the room before getting in himself.

_Phling_

After Tachikoma had left from where she had appeared, all was silent except for a tiny ticking noise heard all over the place. There was a clock going, and when it reached the hour mark, the whole of the WWN building was destroyed in order to incinerate the bodies and to bury the radiation for all time – or until they could clean it up better.

**A/N:**

**Well I hope you like this update.**

**There are a few references here from Star Trek and Independence Day, so it will be interesting to see if any of you get them ALL right.**

**I have good news, Destiny could be back before the end of the year… While she is alright, the man who was repairing it has gone for a holiday so I can not get her back.**

**Regards,**

**Robert**

**PS: While I do not normally do a PS:, I would like it if you all read the notice on my homepage. This explains my position on the subject.**


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